Tank filling spout



NOV. 25, 1941. PENlSTON 2,263,826

TANK FILLING VSPOUT Filed Jan. 30, 1940 Fig. 2

INVENTOR PI HEBER K. PENISTON ATTORNEY Fig. 1; BY

Patented Nov. 25, 1941 TANK FILLING SPOUT Heber K. Peniston,

Standar Los Gatos, Calif" asslgnor to d 011 Company of C ornia, San

Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Application January 30,1940, Serial No. 316,355

1 Claim.

This invention relates to spouts or funnels adapted to direct a flow ofliquid from a flller pipe into a tank, and particularly refers to onefor use with volatile and inflammable liquids, such as gasoline, andwhich will reduce the loss of such liquids by evaporation and preventthe accidental ignition of vapors by static electricity which forms dueto the rapid and turbulent liquid flow.

Heretofore various types of open topped funnels, conduits and the likehave beenused to receive the turbulent stream of liquid from the lowerend of the conventional tank truck or tank car filling stem, to directthe liquid into the body of the tank with a minimum of splashing andevaporation loss. Patent No. 1,824,538 issued September 22, 1931, to E.F. Fisher is an example of the first type, and Patent No. 2,115,016issued April 26, 1938, to C. H. Ehlers is an example of the second.

This invention comprehends broadly a rigid filler pipe spout or adapterthat extends downwardly into the body of the tank or otherwise.

communicates therewith, andis tightly closed or sealed at its upper endby means of a relatively thin or narrow gasket, disposed in a plane atright angles to the fill stem to prevent admission of air into theliquid stream as well as loss by evaporation therefrom. Desirably, meansare provided to make a positive electrical bond between the thin sheetmetal of the spout and the metal pipe of the flll stem, to preventaccumulation of static electric charges which might ignite an explosivemixture of an inflammable vapor and air.

It is an object of this invention to provide a light, rigid, easilyhandled metallic funnel or spout for a tank, such as a tank ,truck ortank car, that will prevent admission of air into the upper or inlet endof the spout, or leakage of vapors from that point.

Another object is to provide a quickly detachable spout or coupler ofthis character that is simple and economical to fabricate, and that willprovide a positive electrical bond to the downwardly depending fill stemwhich is usually in electrical contact with the earth.

Another object is to provide a quickly and easily assembled couplingarrangement of rigid tubes that will be gas-tight as well as flexible tocare for angular misalignment of the filler stem or nozzle with the tankopening.

These and other objects and advantages will be further apparent from thefollowing description. and from the accompanying drawing which taperedportion 13 of pipe forms a part of this specification and illustrates apreferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation view of a spout in place ona conventional illl stem. Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on lineIIII of Figure 1, showing a preferred arrangement of sealing gasket andbonding means.

Referring to the drawing, and particularly to Figure 1, referencenumeral l0 designates the usual horizontally extending pipe portion of atank fill stem, having an elbow H and a downwardly directed outlet pipel2, the latter preferably tapered as at IS. The spout or funnel of thisinvention is adapted to be removably secured to the structure justdescribed, and generally constitutes a thin sheet metal tube ll providedat its upper end with a flange l5. In order to prevent air from beingdrawn into the top of tube It by the rapid downward flow of liquid fromoutlet pipe 12, means such as an annular resilient gasket I6 isprovided, ensaging tightly the lower l2, and secured to flange l5 by acover flange I1 and bolts It to be substantially in a single plane atright angles to the axis of tube l4 and substantially at the topthereof. Gasket It may be of a synthetic plastic material, that is notaffected by the liquid being handled. Such an arrangement has been foundto permit of considerable angular misalignment of the fill stem andspout without causing air or vapor leakage around the gasket l6.Desirably, means are provided other than the friction flt between thesealing gasket l6 and pipe I! to hold the spout in place on the fillstem. In this example, ears I! are secured on opposite sides of flangel1 and are connected by a hinged wire ball 20 which is hooked over pipeIII of the fill stem, as shown in Figure 1. Usually the material ofgasket I8 is an electrical insulator and, in order to prevent accumlation of electrostatic changes on tube ll, desirable to provide anelectrical bond between pipe I! and that tube. In this case, a strip 2|of thin conducting material, which may be brass or bronze, is secured atone or more points about the circumference of flange I! to extendinwardly over gasket l8 and then downwardly inside the opening in thelatter to make positiv' electrical contact with the pipe i! when thespout is in place thereon, as shown in Figure 2. Obviously, many changescould be made in the arrangement shown without departing from theinvention, and all those that come within the scope of the appendedclaim are embraced thereby.

itis.

I claim: In a connection for filling a tank with a volatile oil such asgasoline from a downwardly depending fill stem to conduct said oil intosaid tank with a minimum of admission of air therewith, comprising arigid metal tube adapted to communicate with the lower portion of theinterior of said tank, with its upper end surrounding said fill stem,sealing means secured to the upper end 01' said tube and extendinginwardly to engage saidfill stem, means for insuring an electricalconnection between said fill stem and said tube comprising metallicstrips clamped between said sealing means and said rigid tube and havingan angularly disposed portion within the bore of said gasket adapted tocontact the wall or said fill stem whereby all of the parts areelectrically bonded together to prevent the accumulation of staticelectricity.

HEBER K. PENISTON.

